Taylor on the "first line of attack"

NEW DELHI, June 17: With their cherished artistry proving no match for European method in recent times, the Indian Hockey Federation has dr...

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NEW DELHI, June 17: With their cherished artistry proving no match for European method in recent times, the Indian Hockey Federation has drafted in a master craftsman to strengthen a vital aspect hitherto neglected.

Former England goalkeeper Ian Taylor has set the ball rolling by becoming the first foreigner to train Indians by holding a highly-intense camp for goalkeepers at Chandigarh.

The all-time great, whose commanding presence under the cage guided Britain to their first Olympic gold in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, has inculcated a refreshing approach which could transform the Indian goalkeeper from a desperately lunging `last line of defence’ to the `first line of attack’.

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Indian goalkeepers, who have traditionally been in the shadows of forwards, have to shed their poor technique and passive role if the country has to bounce back to the top, he said before returning home after the four-day camp.

The 42-year-old, who made the trip on the invitation by former national coach and present director of coaching Cedric D’Souza, has imbibed balance, speed and skill in the wards to end the total domination of penalty-corner experts and make the goalkeeper the fulcrum of counterattack.

Armed with the Bola ball-throwing machine “a forward with brain which provides full reliability and accuracy” he has passed on approaches totally new to India which is bound to pay rich dividends soon.

“We train to play and not play to train,” said Taylor, who put promising goalkeepers Ambuj Srivastava (Railways), Edgar Mascarenhas Jr (Air-India), Jagdish Ponnappa (Mumbai), Kiran Bopanna (Karnataka), Netimuddin (Bihar) and Prasad (Services) through exhausting specific leg exercises, palming techniques and taught them how to kick to launch a counter-offensive.

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Baljeet Dhillon, Ramandeep Singh, Dilip Tirkey and L Barla were called for corner pushes and flicks and junior coaches CR Kumar (under-14), Rajinder Singh (under-16) and Baldev Singh (under-18) were there to absorb the methods.

A much-sought after man who has coached in Holland and US among other countries, Taylor takes time off his hectic job as managing director of bicycle makers Giant Bikes for such assignments.

“Goalkeeping is like wicket-keeping. A team plays well if the goalkeeper is good. It is impossible to win a gold if the goalkeeper is not in form,” said the man who baulked time and again even the best penalty-corner men and forwards.

Asked whether he was surprised to find Indian ‘keepers had not imbibed the skills till now, Taylor said, “India have a great heritage. But they have always looked upon forwards to scoring than the letting in of goals.”